Squib National Championship 2026 at South Caernarvonshire Yacht Club - Overall

Tom Jeffcoate and Mark Hogan win the Squib National Championship 2026 © Charlotte Pilkington

Well, what a difference a day makes. Unfortunately after a series of postponements, racing on Thursday was abandoned however crews awoke on Friday to a lovely breeze and,for the first time this week, the AP flag was nowhere to be seen. Two races were planned which would bring the series to 6 races and just the one discard so it was all to play for.

After some fairly well behaved starts this week, the first race of the day took a few attempts to get going, partly due to the fleet being over eager but also due to a significant wind shift of about 20 degrees that required the course to be reset (we definitely kept the mark layers busy this week!). Once off and racing, it was initially Squffy (Veronica and Ben Fallat) who took the lead with Croc (Chris and Gillian Jordan) and Alchemy (Gerard Dyson and Brian Holland) close behind however, what has often been the case this week, RicO'Shea came steaming up on the run and took the win and an unassailable lead in the 2026 Squib Championships. Croc held onto second whilst Alchemy maintained third place.

The second race of the day saw the wind build further and a few boats took the option to head back to Pwllheli for an early lift out. However for the remaining crews, this was a cracking sail with fantastic runs, surfing down the waves. This time it was Nick Bacon and Richard Tucker in Rojo who revelled in the conditions and challenged RicO'shea throughout the race. By the final mark they were neck and neck however an untypical error by RicO'shea in gybing too early for the mark meant that Rojo was able to take the lead to the finish. Behind them, Budgies Tongue had got into third position ahead of Mayhem (Dave Best and Glenn Prichard) and Discord (David Pinner and Jonno Baker) who all enjoyed the stronger breeze. The question as to whether Chequemate and Spoof had done enough to hold onto their places on the podium would need to wait until the sail back to Pwllheli and the publish of official results.

After probably one of the best sails back to base (ignoring some dodgy spinnaker gybes) boats were smoothly hoisted out thanks to the efforts of both SCYC and the guys in Outlaw (Nick Butterworth and Will Rickards) and the final scores were in - 1st RicO'shea, 2nd Spoof and 3rd Budgies Tongue, pushing Chequemate into 4th - just two points separating 2nd and 4th.

A fantastic championship meal was held at the Cove where prizes were awarded and RicO'Shea was officially crowned 2026 National Champion.

As with any event of this scale there are numerous thank yous:

• The PRO Bob Wainwright and his race team;
• Our sponsors - Abersoch Boatyard, Firmhelm, Pelle P, Strike, Hyde, Batt Sails, Holt, Cwrw Llyn and The Welsh National Sailing Academy;
• The team at SCYC and the Cove for keeping the fleet fed, watered & ferried to their boats; and
• Mike Budd, supported by Amanda Greaves in the running of the event

Next year we are in Belfast for the 2026 Squib National Championships (19-25 June 2027) and accommodation is already being planned for what is expected to be a fantastic event. However the season is not over yet with plenty of activity for the fleet and details can be found at squibs.co.uk

Overall Results:
If you finished in the top ten at the Squib nationals then enter your Gear Guide information